Last week, our Reacts survey continued to explore Ryan Rollins’ nascent tenure as Bucks starting point guard, this time in the wake of news that Kevin Porter Jr. will be out even longer. If you forgot, KPJ played the one from jump street this season, but not ten minutes in, sprained his right ankle. He was close to returning—according to GM Jon Horst, he was going to play in last Saturday’s Kings tilt—and playing five-on-five last Friday when he tore part of his left meniscus. He underwent arthroscopic surgery a week ago and will almost certainly be out four-plus weeks.
That hasn’t meaningfully slowed the Bucks down, or at least not yet, due to continued excellence from interim (perhaps longer?) starter Ryan Rollins. To say he’s been solid would be an understatement, and he’s looked the part of a high-level lead guard at times, notably in wins vs. Golden State and New York. Look at his game log and you’ll only see a couple stinkers, notwithstanding turnover issues in last Monday’s Pacers victory. His traditional statistics look like what some predicted for KPJ this year: 16.9 PPG on .525/.431/.826 shooting and 5.4 APG versus 2.5 TPG. His defense looks predictably great, though it’s not totally showing up in all the advanced numbers yet (small sample size alert): Milwaukee’s defense is actually 1.4 points per 100 possessions better when he sits.
Nevertheless, you can understand why Bucks fans are dreaming on the 23-year-old’s long-term potential. But what about the short term? Several have raised the question about what should happen upon KPJ’s return, so we turn it over to you…
I’m actually a little surprised to see his support isn’t higher, but perhaps some of the excitement of the Warriors and Knicks performances wore off. Regardless, put this in the “good problems to have” column—with so many questions from national voices about the Bucks’ backcourt entering this year, the point guard room has been a strength. If KPJ looks anything like he did in that brief opening night stint, that should remaint he case.
We posed one more about expectations during a week when the Bucks improved first to 5-2 and then back to two games above even, where they remain today at 6-4. Fans have been bullish on the team over the first three weeks, with large chunks predicting a top-three seed or better and 50+ wins. How do those predictions stack up relative to before the action began?
I’d be curious to know what those who aren’t moved by Milwaukee’s start thought entering the year. Does the team’s current state match up with what they foresaw? Or are they just waiting to see a larger sample size? In any case, I think I’m among the 57%: I’ve seen enough over 10 games to believe this team could be one of the East’s best three or four teams, and to expect commensurate results game-to-game.